Getting Children Outdoors: A Parent's Guide

Earth Day is a great reminder of a parent's responsibility to teach their children about the natural world around them. As a former park ranger, I remember showing children the plants and animals in their local environments, seeing their surprise as they touched the pelt of a coyote or tracked raccoons down by the creekside. It was both fulfilling and disappointing knowing that I may have been the first person to show them the things that they only read about or saw in videos. I still believe getting dirt under their nails is the most engaging learning experience a child can have.

Something as simple as taking your child for a walk around a local park can impart an understanding of the environment. Get them to focus on the smaller details; the way a chain of ants climb a willow tree, or the veins running through a maple leaf. Grab a guide book and teach them how to identify plants in the field. Remember that with budget cuts in public education and a selective focus on specific classroom subjects, the philosophy of field trips has shifted from broadening a student's understanding of science, literature, mathematics or history, to being considered counterproductive. Nature's lessons, more than ever, are up to you.

Here are three great activities to get you started.

SCAVENGER HUNT

A scavenger hunt is a playful way to get children invested in the details of their natural world. The best part of this activity is that it is transferable to a variety of environments. Write a list of natural items on the outside of a paper lunch bag. Be specific. Include some man-made items. Items such as a white feather, a pointy leaf, a green rock, a twig shaped in an "L", or a silver bottle cap. All the items must be small enough to fit into the bag. At the end, sort through their treasures. Ask them where the item came from, and how it might have gotten there. Have them re-hide their collection before the next game. For a different perspective, make it a "Micro Hunt" where everything they find has to fit into a mint tin.

GEOCACHING

This is perhaps the best activity to get you out into places you've never thought of going. Geocaching provides an end goal which helps to engage children. It is an adult version of a treasure hunt, searching for millions of hidden goodies all around the world. There are geocaches everywhere from Disney World to Yosemite. The easiest caches simply list their GPS coordinates. The harder ones involve some sort of clue or puzzle to find the location. Go to GeoCaching.com for a listing of geocache sites. You will be surprised how many are right in your neighborhood.

STARWATCH PARTY

Set up tents in the back yard. Pretend the tents are planets. Let the children decide which planet they want to be. (Watch out for the one that picks Uranus. He's your troublemaker.) Set up viewing stations, blankets on the grass where they can look up and identify constellations. Let them make up their own. Binoculars are adequate to look at the moon, but for better views of the planets buy, borrow, or rent a telescope for the night. Sky maps and star wheels are available at education stores or can be downloaded from SkyMaps.com. Grill outside, and serve astronaut food (tang and freeze dried ice cream) as treats.

SEED SURPRISE

When hiking, we see seeds everywhere. They cover the ground and stick in our socks. They are carried in the wind. Bring these home with them and plant in small paper cups. Once they grow large enough to see the shape of the leaf, the color of the flower, or the scent, go for a hike. See if you can match the seedling to a plant in the wild.